Dr. Harrison is a Professor in the Infectious Disease Division and Head of the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Research Unit. His research has focused on the epidemiology and molecular epidemiology of important bacterial pathogens, including Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, group B Streptococcus, Neisseria meningitidis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium difficile. A major focus of his research is methods for enhanced detection of hospital-acquired transmission of bacterial pathogens. Dr. Harrison is also the Director of an NIH Fogarty International Center training grant, on the epidemiology and molecular epidemiology of serious bacterial infections and dengue in Brazil.

Clinical Interest

Dr. Harrison attends on the inpatient general infectious diseases consultation service at UPMC-Presbyterian Hospital. The service is commonly consulted for advice on diagnosis and treatment of infections including skin and soft-tissue infection; bacteremia and sepsis; central nervous system infections, such as bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, and brain abscess; osteomyelitis; necrotizing fasciitis; endocarditis and other cardiovascular infections; device-related and prosthetic infections; C. difficile infection; multidrug-resistant infections, and healthcare-associated infections.

Educational Interest

Dr. Harrison teaches a course entitled "Methods in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology" (EPIDEM/IDM 2161) in the Graduate School of Public Health. Topics that are covered include outbreak investigation, genomic/molecular epidemiology, new vaccines and vaccine prevention, study designs in infectious diseases epidemiology, drug-resistant bacteria, public health surveillance, and emerging infectious diseases. He also lectures on these and other topics in variety of other fora at the University of Pittsburgh, nationally, and internationally. Dr. Harrison has mentored numerous infectious diseases fellows, as well as MPH, DrPH, and PhD students.